


Affliction

by Echovous



Series: Iron Legacies [2]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Ahamkara magic, Gen, God Complex, Manipulation, Wishes, powerful relics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-03 18:23:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20457440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Echovous/pseuds/Echovous
Summary: Lord Timur wants to alter the doomed fate of humanity, but his hopes, dreams, and ideas don’t extend far out of his own head. To expand his influence, he needs power that can only be acquired through untraditional means.





	Affliction

Only an idiot would fly an old, broken-down, pre-Golden Age ship through a typhoon. That, or a genius. 

There is great power to be found if one is willing to find it, and Timur is more than willing. The importance of power, even the most minuscule amount, can be a game changer in the omnipresent warfare that has absorbed life on Earth. Power in the right hands—his hands—could turn the war in the Iron Lords’ favor, quell the Warlords, and end the suffering of the masses for good. However, he needs to gain power. All traditional power-seeking methods are time consuming, expensive, or outlawed by the Oath of the Iron Banner. So he must resort to nontraditional methods of gaining power. 

Lord Gheleon speaks of wish-dragons and even more powerful spells. Although, as far as Timur is aware, Gheleon is uninterested in wishes and only hunts the Ahamkara for their bones. A waste, if you asked Timur. He, on the other hand, isn’t going to waste his opportunity to get a wish from an Ahamkara. In fact, he’s made it his personal mission to find one.

He’s eager, but he knows he must exercise great caution to receive a wish. He’s heard many horror stories of what can happen to an oblivious wish-seeker. Words can easily be twisted to have a different meaning and deadly consequences. To offset this risk, Timur has rehearsed his wish in his head hundreds of times. He isn’t about to be tricked or have his words twisted. An outcome like that could be dangerous and could cause catastrophic destruction, especially with what he is planning to wish for. 

It would never come to that... Timur would never put the City in harm’s way. He and his Ghost have already went through what to do if something went horribly wrong. His Ghost was to leave him immediately and assume he couldn’t be saved. She would return to the Iron Lords and warn them of him and what he had done. Then, they were to track him down and end him if they had to. 

Lord Timur’s attention snapped back on the roaring dark clouds beyond the cockpit. He could sense the lightning before it struck and he quickly switched his grip, pulling the controls to bank left. A flash lit up the sky where he had just been a second before. The jagged lightning reached out like claws, grazing the side of his ship. 

“Damnit,” the Iron Lord cursed as the entire ship shook and rattled. The internal lights flickered and went out, plunging the cockpit into darkness. For several achingly long heartbeats, Timur waited, holding his breath. 

The lights blared back on and he regained control. Timur’s eyes strained against the lights but there was nothing he could do about that, he had to keep going. 

Far off in the distance he saw a massive shadow move through the typhoon. Timur adjusted his course, heading straight towards the shape. He knew exactly what it was. The long body, petal-like head carapace, prehensile tail, arching wings, and shapeshifting scales. It was an Ahamkara. Exactly what he was looking for. 

Timur glanced at his fuel gauge. Only three hours left. Timur looked away. He knew that was the fuel for getting home, and now he was using the reserves. But he was so close. He couldn’t turn back now, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself. 

He engaged the already overworked systems on following the beast, quickly gaining on it. The Ahamkara glided easily through the storm on even wingbeats. As he approached, the beast noticed his jumpship. It slowed, bringing itself to fly just in front of his ship, considering the small vessel. 

Timur quickly set the ship to hover and turned to the back of the cockpit, entering the hold of the ship. His movements were quick. Timur swiped his hand cannon, his Lash, from where it laid upon the back counter and holstered it. Next, he grabbed a hold of his helmet, securing it tightly. Timur took one more glance around the ship, looking for anything else he needed. But there was nothing else. He was ready. 

Timur jogged back to the cockpit and up to the controls. His eyes skimmed the panel for the button that would release the cockpit, and under everything he’s ever learned about piloting a jumpship mid-flight, he pressed it. Harsh winds flooded the cockpit, almost knocking the Iron Lord off his feet, but he remained strong. Timur stepped forward to where the Ahamkara could see him clearly.

This high up, Timur could feel the intense Arc charge in the air and its tiny particles vibrating and gathering at his hands. He had previously tested his abilities during storms on the ground, and he felt something different, but this power was nothing like it. The Arc in the air will directly amplify his Light, making a powerful attack even stronger. Which is exactly why he was hoping the Ahamkara would be up this high. 

The dragon’s petal-like carapace partes to reveal its face, and it began. “I am Tege, the Clear-Sighted,” it bellowed into the sky, asymmetrical eyes emitting a bioluminescent glow in the low light of the typhoon. 

“Lord Timur. Iron Lord of the Iron Banner. Guardian of the Last Safe City,” he announced his own introduction. 

“And what power, would a being like you desire,” the Ahamkara’s voice rumbled. “O, Lightbearer mine.” 

“The power only your kind possess,” Timur had to raise his voice to be heard above the raging winds. “The power to bend and manipulate. To change what is real and make my own rules. I wish for the power to grant myself whatever I desire, at nothing more than a thought.”

The Ahamkara was silent for a moment, watching him with its glowing eyes. After a moment, it laughed, a mighty, roar-like laugh. “Your wish is to grant wishes! 

“Only my own, no one else’s,” Timur snapped. “I wish for the power to change the grim fate of this world. I wish to end all the fighting, and bring my enemies to my cause,” in the dragon’s presence, he became unsure of his own words. “The Warlords will never yield, so I must have the power to make them.” 

The wish-dragon tilted its head. “There must be certain tasks completed before your wish can be granted.” A hiss escaped from its teeth. “A bargain must be made.”

“No. No bargain. I will not fall for tricks,” Timur stated, holding his ground against the dragon. He reached up to his neck, feeling for the pendant hanging there. In one motion, he tore the relic from his neck and held it high for the dragon to see. “All I want is a talisman, enchanted with the wish I supplied to you, for my use.” 

The Ahamkara was still amused. “That is not how this works, O, impatient one mine. If I supply you a wish, you must reciprocate.” 

The wish-dragon began to drift further away from the front of his jumpship, a sign that it was about to leave, disinterested in his demands. Timur stiffened, holding his relic against his chest. He was out of time. He had to act now. 

Timur extended his arms towards the sky, towards the dragon. He pushed Arc Light up through his palms. Electricity in the atmosphere crackled alongside his hands, and when he shot Arc Light at the Ahamkara, the sky lit up in a powerful lightning strike. A burst of electricity bashed against the dragon’s wings and the great Ahamkara fell through the sky, disappearing beneath the clouds. 

Timur returned to the central panel and slammed his hand down to seal the cockpit. The howling winds and the pounding rain stopped, but the cockpit remained damp and slippery. Timur’s hands gripped the control sticks and he pushed them both as far forward as they would do, bringing the ship into a dive to follow the Ahamkara through the clouds. 

He landed the ship so quickly that it teetered on the uneven ground. He hardly noticed as he hopped out of his seat and sprinted through the hold to the back of the ship. He lowered the ramp and half walked, half slid down its slick surface. 

The Ahamkara was across the clearing. It struggled on the ground, crawling away from the downed tree it had snapped on its collision with the Earth. Out in the open, Timur could see the dragon’s wings were broken. Its bones were twisted and its membranes ripped. The Ahamkara dragged them across the ground, releasing a pained roar into the air. 

He stepped forward, unholstered his Lash, and pointed it up to the dragon’s head. The wounded creature noticed and bared its serrated jaw of teeth at him, hissing out a plume of navy smoke. “Tiny metal... Cannot harm my kind...” it spoke between breaths. “We are... immortal... you cannot...”

“Kill you?” Timur finished for the Wish-Dragon. “Maybe if I didn’t have a friend who knows how,” Timur remained where he stood, tightening his grip. “Now. The wish. The power to enchant. Anything I want. As long as I want.”

The Ahamkara straightened itself. It raised its head, and lunged at him with a jaw full of teeth. Timur took a step back, conjuring Arc Light from his raised hand. The Ahamkara fell before it reached him, its claws slipping on mud, bringing the whole creature down. For a moment, the Ahamkara struggled one last time. Its tall wings flailed high in the air and it’s strong forearms tried to push itself off the ground. It wasn’t enough, and the dragon went limp. A broken mess.

Timur stepped up to its head which was slightly larger than his ship’s cockpit. He lifted his Lash, angling it at the Ahamkara’s mouth of serrated teeth. “My wish, Wish Dragon, is your power,” he asserted one last time. “I want to change this world for the better. But it needs to be me. Not you. Not anyone else. This world needs to be put back together, and it needs someone who knows how the pieces fit.” Timur paused, his voice lowering. “Only I can be trusted.” 

“Consequences,” the Ahamkara hissed weakly. “Every action has consequences.” 

There was a burning sensation in his palm where he was clutching his pendant. He brought his hand up and turned it over to see the relic glowing a bright white color. The bright light forced him to squint, but he wouldn’t look away until the light dulled to a swirling dark violet. He glanced at the Ahamkara then back to the relic which had been simple old bronze a moment ago, and now felt heavy in his hand. 

The Ahamkara lifted its head. Timur braced for an attack, but the dragon’s eyes were glazed over, and it stared off into the distance. “This day brings a beginning for you, and an end for me. It is a battle won, and a battle lost. But don’t cheer, don’t lift your chin... Your deepest obsessions will bring an end to those close to you. A loss. But a victory, for me. O clever one mine...” 

The Ahamkara was lifeless. The rain began to pick up, and the wind ripped at Timur’s robes. He glanced down at the brass pendant, glowing a deep indigo. He tied it back around his neck and walked back to his jumpship in a dazed silence.

“What does it mean by that,” Timur’s Ghost flashed into view. Rain pounded against her shell as she met her Risen’s gaze. “Your deepest obsessions... will bring an end to those close to you?” 

Timur shook his head. “It doesn’t mean anything.”

“It’s a curse,” she whispered. 

“No,” his voice came out sharp. “It doesn’t mean anything,” he asserted. 

“O, How wrong you are...” a ghostly voice travelled on the wind.


End file.
